Pilgrim's Progress Part 2

Well, I spoke pretty highly of John Bunyan's account of Christian's travels along the narrow path toward the Celestial City. And right rightly so.

I then started what I hadn't expected - Part 2. It sure seemed like Christian's story was wrapping up quickly in comparison to what remained of the book. The Celestial City is the end right?

How is it that I have lived in literary ignorance of the second journey recorded by Bunyan? Christians' wife Christiana, after having abandoned her husband to remain in the city of Destruction, finds conviction and a conscience upon learning of the exploits and end of her estranged.

A second recorded journey ensues where Christiana and her 4 sons in repentance and anticipation likewise endure hardship on the long narrow path toward the bright city where her husband awaits.

I don't know if a stroke of regret brought Bunyan back to this story, or if possibly his readers demanded resolution for Christian's widow, or if part 2 was integral to his initial plot. Whatever the case, the plot in part 2 develops far more slowly as the former adventures of her now beloved are expanded upon at each turn, adding to the dialogue and enhancing the didacticism intrinsic to the previous narrative. The roving allegory of Christiana, her companion Mercy, and the 4 young men is thus layered atop that of the now epic journey of her husband.

In a word, Part 2 can become tedious. I don't say that in a completely negative sense, though at times I'm hesitant to return to the reading during long passages of reminiscence by some former acquaintance of the pilgrims of Part 1. Fortunately, the pilgrims of Part 2, the crowd of whom grows rather large by the end of the story, navigate their own adventures, thus making the steady though languid flow bearable in all but my most overstimulated moments.

The didactic asides and perpetual allegory are the marks of the progress of these pilgrims. Bunyan allows no blade of grass, ray of sunshine, pit, or stone to go unscrutinized for its pedantic potential. With that understanding and a willingness to ride the swells of this literary tide, the story can be appreciated much the way a sermon is appreciated - not exclusively for the vessel of plot, but rather for the power that drives the vessel forward.

I was moved to introspection many times, and would set the reading aside to muse on a principle expanded as I had never seen before. Both Part 1 and Part 2 could, I believe, stand alone. However, I recommend the whole as a discipline for any believer. I was improved by Bunyan's labors, and as stated in his closing poetic arguments, such was the purpose of his labors.

"...This book is writ in such a dialect

As may the minds of listless men affect:

It seems a novelty, and yet contains

Nothing but sound and honest gospel strains.

Would’st thou divert thyself from melancholy?

Would’st thou be pleasant, yet be far from folly?

Would’st thou read riddles, and their explanation?

Or else be drowned in thy contemplation?

Dost thou love picking meat? Or would’st thou see

A man i’ the clouds, and hear him speak to thee?

Would’st thou be in a dream, and yet not sleep?

Or would’st thou in a moment laugh and weep?

Would’st thou lose thyself and catch no harm,

And find thyself again without a charm?

Would’st read thyself, and read thou know’st not what,

And yet know whether thou art blest or not,

By reading the same lines? O then come hither,

And lay my book, thy head, and heart together."

From: Pilgrim's Progress - THE AUTHOR'S APOLOGY FOR HIS BOOK